So…what is the Monday Poll?
Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?
1. Topknot or blowout?
Blowout…but only if someone else does it for me!
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
No, but I really, really want to! I keep meaning to get a bar of glycerine soap whenever I go to Target, but I keep forgetting. I love the brushed-up brow look.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
Um…Lake Tahoe? In general, I try to stay away from the cold because I’m a weather wimp.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
Nope! I don’t think I’ve ever seen my ‘pits in their natural state. I started shaving them right when I started growing body hair.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
I vaguely recall hanging my college graduation tassel from the rear-view mirror of my old red Honda Civic (nicknamed “Claude”) way back when, but I can’t remember where it went!
My parents adopted that car after I got a new one about a decade ago. In the intervening years, it was broken into a couple times, got stolen, then was lost for a year, then was found by the police (I KNOW!) and returned to my parents.
Now they keep it around as a backup car.
Somewhere along the way, that graduation tassel disappeared somewhere.
So I ended up not getting any Spanx leggings on Black Friday…
But they’re still on my Christmas list. After being brutally honest with myself about my closet — and the huge stack of black leggings I currently own — I decided it would be wiser to use my clothing budget on some affordable dresses at LOFT (50% off sale!), which I’ll be able to dress up or down. Plus, THEY’RE NOT PANTS. Ha ha ha!
Did you end up getting anything on Black Friday? Or do you plan to get something on Cyber Monday today?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to you soon.
1. Topknot or blowout?
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
1. Topknot or blowout? Neither – have a pixie cut
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? Never heard of them
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Iceland & I’m dying to go back. Also the Canadian Rockies. I’m weird – love colder weather & vacationing cold places
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? No way
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? Nope
Hi Melissa,
I love the idea of going someplace cold in theory (especially when you see cozy scenes where the snow is gently falling and everything looks so quiet and peaceful), but then I get there and I’m like… NAH. lol I’ve had friends who’ve visited Iceland who rave about it. Where did you go?
All over. We rented a car and circled the country. It was amazing! At times there wasn’t another person in sight. We went in September but are looking to go in winter and in summer
I bet! The landscape is so striking from the pics I’ve seen. What was your favorite place?
If/when I go, I want to see the northern lights (and according to this Travel + Leisure piece 2024 is the time to go!), and to go to the Blue Lagoon. 🙂
We saw the northern lights twice. My favorites were Jokulsarlon – the glacier lagoon & beach where icebergs float out and end up on the black sand beach & Akureyri – a City in the central north. Blue Lagoon is meh – it is not a natural lagoon but man made. Too touristy for me
1. Topknot or blowout?
If I had a stylist, blowout. In real life, topknot.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
No. My brows are very low maintenance, I mainly leave them be.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
Arctic Circle. Twice. My brother in law lives there.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
Yes, two years ago for a video on IPL laser hair removal.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
No. It would drive me mad.
I did, however buy the Spanx Moto leggins in a Black Friday Sale. They haven´t arrived yet, but I hope they will fit and make me look all rock and roll.
Sweet! I hope you love them! Glad you were able to get them on sale.
1. Topknot or blowout? Blowout
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? No. My eyes are sensitive, and I worry about having soap that close to them.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? I think Aspen, CO.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? In the fall and winter when I won’t be wearing anything sleeveless, YES.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No, that drives me crazy: I think they’re horribly distracting. It’s illegal in OR, as well, though that doesn’t stop people. Dangling items are considered a vision obstruction.
I bought makeup on Black Friday and already on Cyber Monday (I was up in the wee hours, so I might as well shop.) I also got some Christmas presents for my sons on Black Friday. I’ll probably look at some more stuff today. I have no idea what to get my husband this year.
Good for you for getting a lot of your Christmas shopping done! What makeup did you end up getting for yourself?
1. blowout! Sounds so glamorous and fun.
2. Never heard of it until now!
3. Texas. In Texas it doesn’t look cold so you don’t dress for it then you freeze your ass off. The coldest I’ve been is in Texas. I’ve been to colder places, but those places look cold so I dressed appropriately and was warm.
4. Only like a week. I like em bare. I had a friend who grew hers out then dyed it. I thought that was badass.
5. A little (fake) succulent plant in a little Terra Cotta pot decorated with little pompoms hung with mini macrame. It’s so millennial and I love it.
I bought a years worth supply of my favorite tea that was on sale. And did some general shopping at Ross/mashalls. Love those stores!
Have a great week!
Girl, how can you say you bought a year supply of your fave tea and not name the tea?! I’m on pins and needles here! (Side note: I’m a Kusmi tea enthusiast…)
Hahaha, that made me laugh out loud for real. I’m so used to being the only tea drinker in a world of coffee drinkers! My favorite is Black Irish Breakfast tea by Equal Exchange. It’s so good. ♥️
Oh I love Irish Breakfast. Do you ever put it over ice?
WAY back in the day, Starbucks would steep single cups of loose leaf tea. They had an amazing Irish Breakfast and then I’d have them poor it over ice. It was strong and amazing. Sadly, today they only do pitchers of watered-down tea and they don’t carry Irish Breakfast anymore.
I love Irish Breakfast tea with milk and sugar. I don’t drink it often though as it stains my teeth like crazy! But I do love a hot cup, especially on a cold morning.
If you ever get the chance, try one of the Kusmi teas. Their green teas, especially, are excellent!
Yum! I love hot tea in winter. It’s a balmy 12 degrees here in the Northern Chicago suburbs. I’ll check them out!
1. Topknot or blowout?
Blowout. My hair isn’t long enough yet to “bun up”, as my girls say.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
That is the first I’ve heard of it. It sounds… uncomfortable, lol.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
The Smoky Mountains.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
No!
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
No. Although I do have to have a sign with my niece’s name hanging up there in the school pickup line.
If you’re having a wardrobe crises, try the Get Your Pretty On website. So helpful.
I’ve been having a wardrobe crises for about three years now, le sigh. Thanks for the recommendation, I will check it out!
1. Topknot or blowout?
A blowout if a professional does it for me!
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
Nope! I’ll have to check it out.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
Probably Canada when I was in elementary school. But it gets pretty cold where I live too. 🙁
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
Nope! I shave every time I shower. I just don’t like the feeling.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
Not currently. I think I had something hanging in my first car that I had through college. It was a white Civic hatchback I called the marshmallow. Shortly after I started working full time (and has some extra $$$) I took it into a local Midas for some maintenance. Honda’s last a long time and with some repairs I planned on driving it for a while. Unfortunately, the placed burned to the ground with my car inside. So yeah…toasted marshmallow. 🙂 I even got interviewed for the local news, but this was before DVRs so I don’t have any record of it.
Hope your post-Thanksgiving Monday is going well!
We went to the movies yesterday and were parked next to a ’90s Civic hatchback and it looked good as new. There’s something about those ’90s Civics, right? The one I had was a ’95, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to last forever!
1. Topknot or blowout? Neither. My hair is too short for either of those.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? Huh? What are soap brows?
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Not sure exactly – some place in Alaska where it was -56 degrees.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? No, never.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No, but I have a little Tudor-style model house stuck on my dashboard.
1. Topknot or blowout? – TopKnot by day 4; aka Day 1 blowout, curled & down, Day 2; down and big curls; Day 3 is a PonyTail & Day 4 is a TopKnot Start over on Day 5.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? No and I’d never heard of it til just now..
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? I’m from Newfoundland so the cold is normal but I live north of Ontario where it hit -35C (-31F) without windchill last winter so I guess Barrie Ontario for the win.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? Not intentionally…. but maybe semi close when I was single..in winter.. lol
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? I collect wooden key chains from the places I visit.. they are all linked to each other to hang; if I can’t find a wooden key chain, I find something else to make into one like the New Orleans one is a Christmas Tree Ornament & from Belize I took a pair of earrings to make a key chain and a necklace charm…
1. Topknot or blowout? Blowout, topknots hurt my head after a while. But someone else has to do it, I’m not skilled enough for a good blowout.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? No, I’ve never seen that before. It looks great!
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Hmmmm, Michigan but we were there in Summer. I’m going to go with San Francisco, and the Mark Twain quote, “The coldest winter I ever spent, was a summer in San Francisco.”
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? NO! It’s not for me.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No, I’ve never hung anything from my rear view mirror. I have a couple of Pop figures in my car, Bobby and Dean from “Supernatural” though. Toys are fun!
1. Topknot or blowout? blowout
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? this is the first I have heard of them
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? San Francisco! That wind whipping off the Bay!
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? absolutely not!
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No – used to have the graduation tassle in from high school way back when.
I got caught up in the Ulta Cyber Monday sale and bought Mac eyeshadows in Havana and Soba (thanks, Karen!) for 40% off, and a Becca Glow Gloss at 50% off (wish they had had the Chrissy Teigan ones, but they were not included). Oh,and super exciting, we got a new dishwasher at Home Depot for 40% off.
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1. Topknot or blowout? My hair is not long enough for a topknot and I don’t understand the need for a blowout.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? No
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Grew up in Michigan. I remember some winters where the high for the day was -5F. I miss an occasional snowfall but don’t really miss the arctic cold.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? On purpose? No. I do however get lazy about shaving in the winter when I’m all covered up.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No. I’m a stickler for safe driving and really good driving skills. So anything that might be a distraction or block visibility by even the tiniest bit is a no-no in my book. Even when I lived in Michigan I wouldn’t put my car into gear unless my windows were completely cleared. (And yes, I still nag Dear Daughter and Dear Husband about their driving.)
Went to Diptyque with Dear Daughter on Friday and there was an Athleta near our parking spot. Tried on tons of cute exercise gear and still walked away with one deep navy and one black pair of workout leggings. Got DD a reflective pair for early morning runs and climbing.
Hi Karen ,
I wore a top knot when I wire my nurses cap now I get a blowout for my curly mane .
I have microbladed brows . Not sure the soap would have helped !
Canada ?? but they had an early spring . Like 50 degrees . I brought 20,000 sweaters, hats and gloves .
No armpit hair . As it was I used my father’s razor to remove it .
My husband would disallow anything hanging in the car .
I bought things my grandchildren wanted on Black Friday nothing so far on ciber Monday . I have already maxed out on stuff for me !
Happy 70 on Dec 6 !
1. Topknot or blowout?
Topknot!
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
Yes but my brows were too thick at the time…
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
Chicago in May? I’m kind of kidding, but it felt colder than Chicago in December.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
I let it grow longer than I wanted when I had my arm in a sling for a tendon issue.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
No, never!
1. Topknot or blowout? Blowout but like you, it’s more fun when someone else does that for me.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? No, and sadly, I don’t even know of what you speak. #outofit
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Probably Nova Scotia in late fall but I was like five months pregnant and super duper hot All The Time.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? Oh no. I started shaving those bad boys as soon as I started growing. I’m thinking about letting them grow out a little only in preparation to have them waxed. I heard something about needing to let things grow when you’re going to get an area waxed.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No. I don’t need anything impeding my view.
Do you still have a full house?
Hi Karen! I hope it’s nice, warm and sunny by you so I can live vicariously. We got 5 inches of snow. Nyaaaaaaaaah.
1. Topknot or blowout?
Buns currently, although that’s bad for my baby hairs. It disguises my really bad hair loss (and all the frizz that comes with it. )
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
Yes. Let’s just say you don’t do that here in Wisconsin when snow and rain creep up on you and you wear contact lenses. THE BURN.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
In the summer? The U.P. (Upper Michigan Peninsula.) It’s 30 bloody degrees in the morning. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. It warms up to 60 or 70 degrees nicely, but it’s cold!
In winter: Anywhere in Wisconsin. It’s just cold. I remember visiting my grams and gramps when I was little from Texas and my nostrils sticking together! Now I live here and I wonder why. >.<
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
No. I don't like the feeling.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
We don't. The only thing we do tend to put around our rear view mirror are fabric/paper poppies sold by the American Legion, but I haven't been able to get one in a few years. I get very emotional when I buy one because I know what they mean. I'm very thankful my dad never had to stay in the VA hospitals, but so many soldiers do and it's such a hard burden on military families when they all ready have such a huge burden being military. It is so hard not to cry when handing over my money because it means so much to me!
1. Topknot or blowout?
I never wear topknots, so blowout! But I can’t do it myself LOL
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
No! Curious though.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
My hometown in Northern Michigan is pretty cold. Sometimes a month will go by with no temperatures above zero. Milwaukee is pretty cold and snowy too. I’m going to Montréal I’m just over a week, so that might win!
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
Nope!
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
Nah, I don’t want to obscure my view!
1. Topknot or blowout?
Blowout! But if you catch me just lounging around, I normally have my hair in a loose braid. The pony tails and messy buns look great but are horrible for my hair. I have thin and fine hair. Buhhhhhh…
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows?
No, but I love the look and want to try it. Like you, I just keep forgetting to get the bar.
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited?
I have to say that was my hometown in NY. I went there to visit my mom about 3 years ago and it was so cold that it hurt to breath even with a scarf over your mouth and nose.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair?
No.. I mean, I do get lazy sometimes but it doesn’t go more than 3 days without a shave. By then, it’s just a little stubble.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror?
When I was younger, yes. I had my high school tassle hanging but in NY it was illegal to have anything hanging. So, it was risks with my tassle. But eventually, that was shredded thanks to my dog. I left him in there for 3 minutes to get money from an ATM… he could even see me! But he got it. 🙂
I didn’t do anything for Black Friday or Cyber Monday. They don’t have many sales here in regards to that. But it is slowly growing yearly.
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I got some things for the kids on Black Friday and also sprung for a bottle of Oribe volumizing shampoo. Ouch. When the bottle came in the other day, I almost had a coronary. I mean, I saw the fl oz before I bought, but it doesn’t truly hit home until I see it in real life. So far, I like it – but not enough for the price! 🙂
1. Topknot or blowout? Def blowout.
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? No, and now I need to check that out. Never even heard of it!
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Probably somwhere in Northern QC, Canada but, the weather is pretty much the same as where I live.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? No, though I sometimes miss a few days between shaves in the winter. I’m trying to get one of the boys to trim his and he thinks I’m insane. No one wants to see bushy armpit hair, even on men. His isn’t bushy but he should get into good body hair grooming habits. 🙂
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? No – I don’t think I’ve ever done that. But, I’m not much of an accessorizer, as you know.
1. Topknot or blowout? a knot but its low. i am trying to get a blow out this weekend
2. Have you ever tried doing soap brows? heck no, so i can sweat and burn my eyeballs
3. Coldest place you’ve ever visited? Toronto in October.
4. Have you ever grown out your armpit hair? yes.
5. Do you have anything (charms, necklaces, etc.) hanging from your rear-view mirror? nope.